Did you know YouTube has now passed Facebook as the biggest social media site?
It is key for businesses, small or large, to be active on YouTube. Creating great content is the first step, but ensuring your channel and videos are optimised correctly will make sure that you are getting the most value out of your hard work.
Video title
Coming up with a title for your video is a lot more important than you might think; titles should be descriptive and encourage viewership. Think about what you might type in to find the video? Ensure you include all relevant keywords so that your video is as searchable as possible; is it a ‘How To’, Tutorial’ or ‘Interview’? It’s also crucial to remember that a title shouldn’t be longer than 100 characters, and the viewer only tends to see 50-60 characters when searching for videos, so don’t make your title an essay! Studies have found that numbers in video titles attracts people more than those without, especially odd or prime numbers, so think about how you could incorporate this within your title.
Video descriptions
Moving onto descriptions. Again, these are a lot more essential than you might think. Similar to titles, descriptions help YouTube and audiences find your videos, so make sure they’re optimised as much as possible. Descriptions should be around two paragraphs long, describing the video and what the viewer is about to watch. Make sure that you put the title of the video you’re uploading within the first two lines of your description. Again, like the title, ensure you use as many relevant keywords as possible, as this will aid in content discovery. A lot of people forget one of the most valuable things to include in their description – their links. It is key to include URL links to all of your social profiles and website in your descriptions; why would you direct them to your video and not direct them back?
Video tagging
Tagging your video is the next step in ensuring that your video will be easily found on YouTube. Tags are descriptive keywords that help YouTube’s discovery systems find your videos and deliver them to new audiences. It’s important to remember that you should aim for around 20 to 26 tags per video, and earlier tags are more valuable than later tags. When you’re tagging your video think about three things: who, what and where. Is there someone famous or influential in your video? What type of video is it? Is it a tutorial, interview or comedy sketch? Where was it filmed? These are all vital questions to think about when you’re tagging your video.
Video thumbnails
Thumbnails are essential to get right as they’re the first thing the audience’s eyes are drawn to. Colourful imagery and including words describing the video are a great way to start; people look at the thumbnail before they’ve even read the title so ensure there’s key information already there. Try adding brand iconography across thumbnails to visually represent your company and guarantee audience’s will recognise your content.
These aren’t rules, they’re just some easy ways to get your YouTube channel optimised and in the best position to increase views and subscribers. YouTube is just another extension of your brand and business, so it’s a good idea to make sure it all connects together.